


Same As It Ever Was

by Nyssa23



Category: Red Dwarf
Genre: Angst, Character of Color, Groundhog Day, Interracial Relationship, M/M, Time Loop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-16
Updated: 2010-08-16
Packaged: 2017-10-11 03:18:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/107761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyssa23/pseuds/Nyssa23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rimmer learns some things about Lister, and about himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Same As It Ever Was

**Author's Note:**

> Set between series I and II. Written for the LJ comm choc_fic prompt _Red Dwarf, Dave Rimmer/Arnold Lister: "Groundhog Day" - time loop that only one character can remember? - What happened to Rimmer &amp; Lister between Series I and Series II?_

The first time it happened, Arnold Rimmer assumed that Lister was only doing it to annoy him--particularly since it was so soon after the whole "gazpacho soup" debacle. There he was, the smeghead, sitting in the exact same place on his bunk chewing the exact same toenails, humming the exact same tuneless tune as he had the day before.

All the same, Rimmer wasn't sure how Lister had managed to get the Cat to play along.

But the next day, it was just too much. How smegging fast could toenails possibly grow, even on a freakish creature like Dave Lister? Of course, Lister had denied everything; Rimmer would expect nothing less. But when the Cat had said the exact same thing at the exact same time again, Rimmer began to suspect that perhaps it wasn't some elaborate prank to pass the time.

He'd checked with Holly, and there were no problems with his hologram simulation suite or with the data in his program. Not that Holly was exactly at the top of his game, his claimed IQ of six thousand notwithstanding. Rimmer spent the rest of the day on Esperanto revision and deck inspection, hovering over the skutters until they set down their brushes and refused to clean any more bulkheads. Could dead people still go mad?

On the fourth day, Rimmer concluded that this was either a dream or he was well and truly dead, and resolved to do exactly as he pleased until he figured out which it was. After all, if the same day was to be repeated over and over again, could there be any consequences to his actions? He started small--insulting Lister and the Cat indiscriminately, having Holly play Hammond organ music at 3 a.m.--and worked his way up to bigger things. One day, Rimmer ordered the skutters to smash Lister's guitar; but when he saw the younger man's face, he was struck by how real Lister's grief was. Rimmer had never been as thankful as he was the next day when Lister's guitar was whole again, propped in the corner as usual.

Over the next week, Rimmer lay low, keeping to his revision and watching instructional videos on Esperanto and engineering. He found himself paying more attention to Lister, the way he said things, the way he moved. One day, Rimmer asked Lister about his childhood. The suspicious way Lister looked at Rimmer made Rimmer regret every bad thing he'd ever said about his bunkmate. And when Lister finally spoke, Rimmer really listened in a way he never had before.

Rimmer found he wanted to know more about Lister. Each day, he asked something different. He learned about Lister's classmates, his old girlfriends, his grandmother. He learned the sort of things Lister liked, the jokes Lister thought were funny. And for the first time, Rimmer felt he finally understood this man with whom he'd spent countless hours on duty. Why hadn't he ever gotten to know Lister before? Why hadn't he asked these questions...when he was alive?

***  
One night, Rimmer and Lister stayed up late drinking--Rimmer's drinks provided in virtual form by Holly--and talking. Rimmer wondered why he'd never noticed before the way Lister's eyes crinkled up when he smiled. He cursed himself for being dead, for causing the accident which had landed them in this situation; now he'd never be able to...touch Lister. Rimmer looked around quickly, wondering if he'd said that out loud, but Lister was still in the middle of a story.

When Lister, giggling and wobbly, tried to climb into his own bunk before finally stumbling into Rimmer's, Rimmer felt a little _frisson_ of delight before realizing what an empty moment it really was. This was what he was longing for, and now there was nothing he could do about it. He studied Lister's sleeping face for a moment and made a decision: he climbed into the bunk as well. It was eerie to see the way Lister's body displaced the light that made up Rimmer's own as it shifted in the bunk, but it gave Rimmer some satisfaction to know that in some small way, they were together at last.

***  
"Ugh!" Lister leapt out of the bunk, rubbing his arms. "Holly, what time is it? I must've been well drunk last night to fall asleep--_on top of Rimmer!_" Lister made elaborate shuddering motions and unbuttoned his Hawaiian shirt, holding it at arm's length before dropping it on the floor.

Rimmer sat upright, a tight little smile on his face, and said nothing. So this was how it ended. Holly made some blathering comment about having been caught in a time loop for two months, some sort of free-floating anomaly in space. Lister ran around checking the mirror to see if his beard had grown (it hadn't) and if there was any change in the mug of mold he kept next to the sink (who could tell?)

More than anything, Rimmer wished he could just once more hear the sound of his own heartbeat.


End file.
